ed with small hopes of victory. For
the season had been disastrous for the 'Varsity; several members of
the team had been caught in the toils of the octopus examination and,
what was worse among the members, ill-feeling existed due to past
feuds.

Stover, in the long grueling days of practice, had won the respect of
all. Just how favorable an impression he had made he did not himself
suspect. He had instinctive quickness and no sense of fear--that was
something that had dropped from him forever. It was not that he had to
conquer the impulse to flinch, as most boys do; it simply did not
exist with him. The sight of a phalanx of bone and muscle starting for
his end to sweep him off his feet roused only a sort of combative
rage, the true joy of battle. He loved to go plunging into the
unbroken front and feel the shock of bodies as he tried for the
elusive legs of Flash Condit or Charley DeSoto.

This utter recklessness was indeed his chief fault; he would rather
charge interference than fight it off, waiting for others to break it
up for him and so make sure of his man.

Gradually, however, through the strenuous weeks, he learned the deeper
lessons of football--how to use his courage and the control of his
impulses.

"It's a game of brains, youngster, remember that," Mr. Ware would
repeat day after day, hauling him out of desperate plunges. "That did
no good; better keep on your feet and follow the ball. Above all,
study the game."

His first lesson came when, at last being promoted to end on the
scrub, he found himself lined up against Tough McCarty, the opposing
tackle. Stover thought he saw the intention at once.

"Put me against Tough McCarty, eh?" he said, digging his nails into
the palms of his hands. "Want to try out my nerve, eh? I'll show 'em!"

Now McCarty did not relish the situation either; foreseeing as he did
the long weeks of strenuous contact with the one boy in the school who
was vowed to an abiding vengeance. The fact was that Tough McCarty,
who was universally liked for his good nature and sociable
inclination, had yielded to the irritation Stover's unceasing enmity
had aroused and had come gradually into something of the same attitude
of hostility. Also, he saw in the captain's assigning Stover to his
end a malicious attempt to secure amusement at his expense.

For all which reasons, when the scrub first lined up against the
'Varsity, the alarum of battle that rode on Stover's pugnacious front